The Museum of China Hu-writing Brush
2 min readChina Hu-writing Brush Museum is located on Lianhuazhuang Road next to the north of Lotus Villa Garden occupying an area of 3,000 square metres. It was established and opened to the public in 2001.
The Chinese writing brush is the cultural heritage of human civilizationwith the unique connotation of Chinese traditional culture. When we speak of the Chinese writing brush, we should refer to Chinese characters and the Chinese calligraphy. Chinese characters evolved from pictures and signs, and the calligraphy developed from its writing system. It is essential in calligraphy to grasp the correct order of stroke, to keep the proper balance and rhythem of characters. Calligraphy takes many years of dedicated practice to perfect. Only those who are skilled at handling of the brush can produce a pleasing balance of characters on the paper, namely, thick and thin lines, heavy and light strokes. Through the ages, great calligraphersdeveloped representative calligraphic styles of their times. The love of calligraphy is deeply ingrained in Chinese people and has been naturally handed down from ancient times to nowadays. Writing-brush is indispensable in Chinese calligraphy.
Hu-writing brush is placed at the top of “Four Treasures of the Study”(writing brush, inkstick, inkslab and paper). The manufacture of Hu-writing Brush has a very long history, particularly, since the Yuan Dynasty its making-skills have been the best in China. Hu-writing brush is characterized by “sharp, neat”in shape, and “soft, free”in using. The whole process of manufacture from the choice of materials to finished products, even to last packing has very strict technological requirements. In a certain extent, Hu-writing brush means Chinese writing brush, so that Huzhou is honoured with the title of “Capital of Chinese Calligraphy-Brush”.
The museum is designed in the traditional style of Chinese building.The main body, pavilions, corridors, show rooms and exhibition galleries allfeature an antique flavor. The museum includes different theme halls where tourists can get the information about the history of Hu-writing brush and its technological crafts. More than 200 cultural relics and historical documents related to Huzhou writing brush, and over 100 paintings and handwritings collected from scholars and celebrities are exhibited in the halls. Those masterpieces are all created by calligraphers with the Hu-writing brush.
Additionally，tourists can appreciate various superfine Hu-writing brushes that were manufactured in the past 270 years in Wang Yipin（a writing brush house），and the time-honoured“Tianguan Brand”writing brushes.
Sometimes，the special products are needed to present to distinguished guests as the national gifts.Tourists come to Huzhou and often takeHu-writing brushes back as souvenirs，or buy for their relatives and acquaintances who take great pleasure in writing.
